


Breathless

by Averrichi



Category: The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Death, Flowers, Hanahaki Disease, M/M, Other, Selectively Mute Link, Violence, suffocating
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-16
Updated: 2018-04-19
Packaged: 2019-03-31 22:46:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,951
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13984917
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Averrichi/pseuds/Averrichi
Summary: He never wanted to fall in love. Link never wanted for it to be one-sided either. As the disease progressed, so did the love. His physical condition however, would only get worse. And it was all because of the love, the very thing that was going to kill him.





	1. Prologue

_"I. . . I want you to do a favor for me if I die. Actually, **when** I die." Link wheezed. "It . . . it's not necessary, but I would rest better knowing that she knew."_

_"Skychild, what kind of nonsense are you spouting out now? I swear the pollen is starting to get to your brain."_

_"It . . . it won't be much longer, I promise. You'll be rid of my sorry ass soon enough." It took every ounce of effort he had to keep the conversation decent. With his breathing harshly controlled and slowed, the less likely the chance of him choking on a flower. The last thing he needed was to piss the demon off by spitting another bloody flower on to his white attire._

_"Link, I need you to tell me. I can't do what you want if you keep ranting about how you're worthless every time we have a conversation like this." Ghirahim said effortlessly, he wasn't the one suffering from a flower crushing his organs and tearing up his lungs._

_"Zelda. I want you to tell her something somehow when I am dead. Tel—ugh! . . .Tell her that I'm sorry that I was incapable of saving her. Fi will give you the rest of the information when it's time, if you—hurg! if you agree to it, that is." Just being in the presence of the demon lord was making this harder. Damn, why did he fall in love with a **demon,** of all people._

_"Boy, have you forgotten that I am the one trying to kill her?" Ghirahim snarled. So the boy was entitled enough to ask the demon for whatever he wanted._

_"No I hav—" Link fell into a coughing fit. This was the first time Ghirahim had seen the blood that now came with the flowers. "Ple . . .ase"_

_"Shut up already. You're making it worse." He said as he wiped up the blood on Link's face. "I'll do it. Just . . . get some rest. You'll need it."_


	2. Dilemma

It had started simple coughing. At first, Link assumed it was a cold or a common sickness that everyone caught every so often.

Oh, how wrong he had been.

The moment he had felt something other than mucus in the back of his throat, he panicked. When he had removed it from his mouth, it was a light pink flower petal, like the dresses Zelda had sometimes worn.

"What the hell? . . ." He muttered, examining the slightly damp, velvety leaf in between his fingers. He had been on the suface when he coughed it up. Link had decided to wait and see what happened. After all, it really could've been nothing. But when he ended up coughing out more several days later, it was something to be worried about.

At first they had just been the light pink petals.

Then violet.

Magenta.

Peach.

It had quickly gone from one petal to around six or seven a day.

Not only were there petals coming out of him, it was getting harder to breath. Link's visits to the surface and fighting to keep himself alive were starting to become difficult as well.

One evening on skyloft, he picked up several books to research the topic.

_A condition where the immune system reacts to a foreign substance is called an allergy. It is a relatively common when the body is hypersensitive._

_Can include:_

_Difficulty breathing_

_Rashes on skin_

_. . ._

The teen stopped reading, this was just a normal medical book everyone had studied at one point in the previous school year. He shut the book and made a pile for the useless books.

Instead of reading every single table to contents to find something, Link looked at the book titles to get an idea of what was in it. Soon he came across a book titled Rare and Mythical Ailments. It seemed more promising that things about asthma and allergies, especially with . . . whatever he had.

The blond flipped page, after page, after page until he reached the image of a bloody flower.

** _Hanahaki Disease_ **

_Caused by one-sided love._

_The victim will cough up flowers until they either die, or the love is returned._

_The illness begins with a simple cough, similar to one caused by a common cold. Once the feelings have already begun to grow, the flower will take root somewhere in on on the victims' body. They can grow almost anywhere._

_Usually, the flowers may only grow on the victims' skin. However the less fortunate will suffer as the plant slowly starts to grow, crush their organs, and suffocate them by blocking the airway._

_Stage 1: Coughing_

_Stage 2: Coughing out flower petals_

_Stage 3: Vomiting out or choking on entire flowers_

_Stage 4: Bouquets start to kill the victim_

_Stage 5: The plant causes permanent damage_

_By stage five, the disease is almost entirely irreversible. Again, the only thing that prevents the plant from spreading is when the love is returned. However most victims kill themselves or die before it can be healed as the disease often progresses faster than anticipated._

How had he even fallen in love? He hasn't had contact with anyone recently. Link had been so focused on saving Zelda that he didn't spend time with others. The only person that he's had mixed feelings about was Ghirahim. . .

Link attempted to get out of his chair but fell to the ground in a coughing fit. He shuddered and held a hand to his mouth as flowers and more petals flew out. 

Someone knocked at the door. It was Pipit. "Link? Are you alright? I heard you coughing."

"Yes, I-I'm fine."

"Are you sure? I'm coming in." He said opening the door, seeing Link hunched over on the floor still coughing. He rushed to his side and gasped when he saw the flowers. "Did you eat a flower or something?"

Link pointed to the book, still sitting open on his desk. He didn't know of any other way he could explain the situation to him. Also, it didn't help that he was gagging on something organic that didn't have any other reason to grow inside of him expect for that 'he fell in love'. He coughed out the last flower with a 'hack' and stood up but not before picking up the slightly damp plants and throwing them in the trash. He sat down on his bed and waited for his friend to finish reading.

"Are you certain? This is what you have?" Pipit's voice had changed from friendly to tiny and uncertain as he turned to speak. He definitely didn't want his best friend to die and he wished there was some way he could help the blond. He never thought the boy would fall in love. Even if he did at some point, Pipit had always thought it to be Zelda, but something was telling him today that it was someone that he definitely did not want to fall in love with. Link was always so secluded as they were growing up, and he definitely wasn't as outgoing as the other kids such as Groose. "Link . . . I wish there was some way that I could help you."

"There isn't any other way to make the disease stop except for getting him to fall in love with me . . . I guess . . .  that might be my only option. If I want to do that, spending as much time as I can with him would help . . . I think." Link said, already getting up to start packing an extra bag. He packed extra clothes like his pants, undershirt, and underwear. Then he realized, there was a way for Pipit to help him. By gathering the items he would need on the surface for at least a week or more. "Actually Pip, you can help."

"Alrighty! Just tell me what you . . ." Pipit turned around and then saw what Link was doing and he was doing. The words the blond had spoken never really registered in his head. His spirit instantly fell. "Oh."

"I just need you to ask Gaebora for an extra uniform or two and run to the Bazaar and buy a several red potions. I think I have everything else I need though. I'll be leaving right after dawn tomorrow, so if you'd like to get those for me you can do it before then. You need to get back to your patrol, remember?"

"Of course, I'll see you in the morning. Have a good night, bud." Pipit said with a sad smile as he shut the door behind him. 

In the morning, Link had already been awake and ready to go by the time his friend knocked on the door. To be honest, he didn't sleep much that evening. His thoughts were keeping him up and they were still bothering him at the moment. He switched his attention to the brunette in the mustard colored uniform standing at the door with two green tunics and three bottles of potion laying on top of them laying in his arms. 

"Here you go, Link. Have . . . Have a good trip and come back soon. Promise me?"

"I promise, Pip." 


	3. The Beginning

He ran out of food a long time ago. Link even stuck to only one meal a day and it  _still_  wasn't enough. His meals were scarce and barely enough to sustain him. 

Now he was down on the surface, starving, coughing up flowers, and almost passing out from fatigue every evening. Having no food was really talking a toll on his body. Fighting every day took a lot of energy and running when he couldn't fight anymore didn't help either. 

Fi had recently seemed more concerned about his health than his progress on the mission. At first, he'd been grateful, but the constant reminders were starting to grow old. 

' _Master, I recommend seeking out a place to rest and stay there for the night.'_

_'I have calculated an 78% chance that your condition will only worsen if you continue at the pace you are currently at.'_

_'The disease is progressing faster than I originally anticipated. Please attempt to cease your thoughts of the demon.'_

_'Master—'_

"ENOUGH, FI!" He finally snapped, and started yelling. "I  _know_ that my condition is going to get worse! I  _Know_ that thinking about  _him_ will make the flower grow! I . . . I know . . ."

The sword spirit stopped speaking and registered what Link had just said. Then went back into the sword. "Very well, master."

Link took deep breaths to slow his breathing, then continued cutting down vines and plants to make a path through the forest. He wanted to find a place to rest before nightfall. He knew exactly what Fi was going to say, ' _Master, I believe finding a place to retire for the evening would be in your best interest.'_ This was the one time he was going to follow her advice. Everything else was . . . useless to him. Link wanted to focus on saving Zelda and stopping this 'Hanahaki Disease' before it was too late. Was it really so bad that people would rather kill themselves than die from the disease?

He unconsciously walked until he met a cave that was concealed by plant growth. It would be a good place to possibly spend several nights here after camp was made. Link was out of the reach of wind and even if there was any blowing, he would be downwind becasue of the way the rock was formed. 

Inside his bag, Link found the extra pieces of wood he collected and attempted to start it with some makeshift tools. The first try, he used the string from his old broken bow amd a chunck of the wood to make a a mini bow shaped object. He wrapped the string around the stick and started running it back and forth to create friction, but alas, he failed. The second try, he did manage to succeed after around fifteen minutes of rubbing a hard wild stick into a groove. By the time the fire was formed, it was already dark. 

The blond cursed himself for, once again being slow at something. He was better at wielding a sword and shield than building a simple fire. 

Sleep came to the seventeen year old quickly, however his dreams were not peaceful. 

_Zelda and Impa had just escaped through the time gate, which was now destroyed._

_Ghirahim had caught Link off guard._

_"Now you've done it, Link." Link cried out as he andwas thrust against the wall by his neck. "I blame myself. I should have reprimanded you the first time met but instead I was soft."_

_The demon only squeezed more, crushing his airway. Only when the blond's eyes started to close did the demon lord loosen his grip, letting Link fall to the ground like a rag doll. Link raised a hand to his neck as he gagged with the sudden intake of air. He was kneeling. And just when he thought he might be able to breath again, he started to choke on the flowers growing in his lungs._

_The green garbed boy started to stand up only to be pinned ahainst the wall by the demon once more. This time, with both wrists held above his head by Ghirahim's left arm. With his free hand. The taller male thumbed Link's bottom lip in a teasing way. "What's this now? Fallen in love with the enemy, have we Skychild?"_

_"Ho . . .ow w-would you know?" Link rasped. His voice was rough._

_"Oh please, do you honestly take me for an idjit? It's obvious, boy. You were fine until I had grabbed you. I've seen it plenty of times in my lifetime, so it's nothing new to me." He said in Link's pointed ear before stepping back. "Well, if you'll excuse me 'love', I have better things to do. I'll be on my way, but know that the next time we meet I won't be as merciful."_

_Before Link could even respond the demon teleported away. But just when Link was about to leave hands shot out and snatched his shoulders. the blond yelped in surprise._

_"I'll make you deafen yourself with the sound of your own screams. . ."_

Link shot upward with a yell. 

That 'dream' or memory, whatever it could be called, kept getting Link every time.

The taller man was terrifying, sure. but Link still couldn't figure out how  _he_ could love  _him._ If anything, Link should be afraid of the demon, but alas, this was not the case. Was he . . . weird for falling in love with a man? And a demon no less?

It was sometime in the middle of the night when he woke up. 

Link clutched his knees to his chest and the next thing he knew it was morning. He let out a quiet groan and got up to stretch. It was time to continue with his quest. 

His next destination was the Fire Sanctuary in the Eldin Province. There he would most likely fight Ghirahim once more, but fighting him wouldn't be the only thing he tried. Link was going to make a possibly rash decision. He wanted to try and get the demon to love him, and it was going to be the death of him. He thought to himself, _'Good Job, Link! Once again you come up with a plan that has absolutely **no flaws** whatsoever. You'll be lucky if you come out alive this time . . .'_

After around two hours of walking to the province and about an hour of scaling the mountain, He was finally able to reached the Sanctuary. His tunic was partially singed and there were a couple holes from burning embers touched his green garb. 

The large doors of the boss room closed with a groan behind him. Link could already see the demon in front of him, Ghirahim chuckled creepily.

"Fancy meeting you here, I see you're still among the living." He turned with a devious smile, and continued with a sarcastic, teasing tone. "Oh but it's no coincidence. You and I, we're bound by a  _thread of fate."_

Link backed away slightly. The demon wanted something.

"These drawings suggest the existence of a second Gate of Time. This news has just filled my heart with rainbows!"

 Link scoffed. "I didn't know that demons could have hearts." 

"So, the hero  _can_ insult someone. Goddess, I didn't think you had it in you." The demon approached with a dagger in his hand. Soon Link was backed against a wall. "I know your little spirit maiden, the goddess Hylia would disapprove of anything cruel even though she is the one who condemmed that sword spirit of yours into her unnatural fate."

"What are you talking about?"

"Nothing that concerns you. Let's get onto business, shall we? I know you want something, Skychild so spill it." The demon lord snapped his fingers and morphed the dagger into his rapier. Soon the sharp edge dug into the blond's skin.

Link tilted his head up slightly to avoid breaking the skin more. "We can make a deal."

"Oh?"

"You already know that I . . . fell for you somehow. If I can make you fall for me as well, then . . . you'd stop trying to get your hands on Zelda. If not then . . .you get to do whatever you want to me and get my friend for your master. If anything, this benefits you more than me so—"

"No." The taller man said, stepping back. 

"B-but why not?!"

"I don't want to play childish human gambling games. They have no purpose, therefore it's a waste of my valuable time. If you'll excuse me, I'll be on my way." And with that, the demon lord was gone with a flash of diamonds.

 Link cursed himself once more before picking up the heart container and moving to finish the temple. 

Several hours later, back in the cave he was staying in, Link had woken up to an unexpected visitor above him. 

 The teen drew his sword only for it to be slapped out of his hands. 

 "Have you been living like this the entire time you've been on the surface?"

"Pardon?" Link mumbled.

"Have you been living like this the entire time you've been on the surface?" Ghirahim repeated, albeit angrily. 

"Yes. Why? Is that an issue?"

"Come with me." The demon walked out the mouth of the cave before Link could say something. "I'll give you two weeks. If you haven't succeeded by then, which you won't, then you'll be a dead man. Got that?"

"Yes, Thank you." He said with a small grin. The demon had agreed. Now all he had to worry about was not dying.

 


	4. Not Enough

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Unfortunately things can't be perfect forever, and for Link, things would soon come to an end. Luckily, it wouldn't be a horrible one.

Ghirahim had kindly let Link say at his mansion somehwere near Faron Woods. He had his own room, however Link always failed to actually sleep in his bed. The demon had granted him access to his personal library, where he would find the hero asleep in a chair every evening. The lord would place a blanket on his shoulders and retire to his own room for the night. 

They would have dinner every evening as well. And instead of eating, the two would bicker over whether Link was actually making an effect on the demon. Ghira would always deny his claim and state it merely as him being a proper host. Little did he know he was lying to himself. It was always the little things that they fought over. Even if it pissed off the demon, Link would happily admit he liked the little disputes.

Five days in, the disease got worse again. 

They had been visiting in the courtyard when it happened. He had been releasing an occasional cough here and there, but then suddenly Link had fallen to his knees in an uncontrollable fit. He had passed out on the ground before the demon's feet. 

When he had woken up, he was curled up into a ball on Ghirahim's lap. 

"G-ghira? Wh-why am I sitting on your . . . lap?" Link said sitting up quickly, ripping off the arm that had been resting around him as well. 

"Normally, I would've left you in my room so I could keep an eye on your condition, but you started mumbling some nonsense about me leaving. About twenty minutes later you were having a nightmare, the easiest way to calm you down was by putting you there." Ghirahim looked at the boy with no expression whatsoever, it would kill him to admit that Link was cute when flustered. "You're heavy. Sitting like that for two hours was very uncomfortable, so you'd better have a good reason. If you would like . . . we can . . . talk about your unrest it if it's not too much if an issue."

"I'd rather not talk about it." Link sighed and started to move off of the demon but was soon stopped by the arm in his way. 

"You're still weak from earlier. Just stay where you are, it'd be better not to make things worse." He said, holding Link tighter than he really meant to. Goddess, he was failing to keep things hidden. Sooner or later Link was going to catch on, but for now he seemed pretty clueless.

"Oh . . . al-alright then." Albeit hesitantly, Link curled back up, relishing the warmth of the demon and the fire in the mantle next to them. His hand rested on the demon's bare chest, in the opening of his white attire.

When a shiver ran through the sleeping hero, Ghirahim simply smiled to himself and snapped his fingers to wrap his mantle around the teen. They wouldn't be like that when they woke up though. He mumbled something to himself before drifting off himself. 

Over the two days, Ghirahim couldn't even properly use words to describe their situation. 

Link, pretended he was fine. Although, he clearly wasn't fine. He looked like he hadn't slept in days, permanent darks spots had formed under his eyes, his skin was starting to become a pasty white, and that wasn't even the worst part of it. The  _wheezing_ and the  ** _blood_**   were the worst. 

The demon wanted to help, honest. But no, Link kept stubbornly refusing to have Ghirahim's help. He kept saying, ' _You don't love me, and I'm nothing but a burden. I can take care of myself, Ghirahim. It-its not your re-responsibility Just_ _. .stop a_ _lready.'_

That did however, change when Ghirahim confronted him.

He was embarrassed to admit that he would consider Link and him friends and that it actually hurt him to hear Link say that every time. The next day, he had stopped.

 . . .And his somewhat happy attitude started to cease to exist as well. 

It could be considered a last minute wave of depression, but to Ghirahim, every emotion Link had just went through was normal. They were the five stages of grief. 

Denial. 

Though it may have been brief, Link denied his condition for the first couple days. He didn't want to believe that he ws coughing up flowers. He didn't want to believe that he had fallen in love with someone he could never be with. 

Anger. 

The whole stay hadn't quite been happy. Link did have several breakdowns about everything. Two of which, Ghira was unable to help or be there for him in the end. One had merely been about what the Goddess had destined for him, another was about him being heloless to stop this kind of stuff, and the last had been targeted at Ghirahim. Link had started to blame him for everything, and the demon wasn't going to lie. Everything was technically his fault, but he didn't have any control over another person's will. 

Bargaining.

Everything may not have happened in the proper order, but nevertheless it still happened. He tried to bargain with his fate by making a deal with the demon lord by gambling. Later Ghirahim had manage to put doubt in Link's head about his inability to make the demon fall in love with him. Truth is, the demon was also lying to himself when he told that to Link. He was starting to succeed, but there was absolutely no way that Ghira was going to let that get trough. 

Depression.

LInk was starting to become afraid of every little event that seemed to happen. That one day, which was filled with annoying mood swings, Link sort of just laid in bed the whole time. But in the morning, Link was gone and so were all of his belongings.

Acceptance.

Perhaps Link leaving was a way of him accepting the fact that things were only going to get worse. And perhaps it was just another foolish gesture to get the demon lord to notice. Either way, he did.

Ghirahim left his wonderful mansion as soon as he had everything prepared after he discovered that the youth had in fact, actually left and wasn't just hiding somewhere in his mansion moping around like earlier. He cursed himself for not keeping a closer eye on the boy and his condition was nowhere near well enough for him to go exploring like a little kid. It would add to his list of things to happen to the boy that were all his fault. Link may have been an young adult, but that did not mean that he acted like one. He was beyond reckless and constantly made stupid decisions that could easily get him killed. Like when he decided to fight Koloktos without examining the creation first in order to get a better understanding. 

They'd somehow managed to have countless talks about each other, and he still wasn't able to convince the boy to be more careful. Albeit, Ghirahim was his enemy and he shouldn't being following his advice but that didn't mean that he had no worries about him and what stupid decision he decides to do next. 

_"Skychild," Ghirahim said sitting in the chair across from Link at a coffee table. He was holding a delicate teacup in his hands. He sat straight, barely moving. It was inhuman, but then again . . . He wasn't human. He was a fucking demon. Link shouldn't have the need to remind himself that. "Tell me more about yourself."_

_"Why would you want to know? Last I checked, I was absolutely none of your concern unless I was interfering with you plans to resurrect Demise." Link said skeptically. He quickly reprimanded himself, 'The damn demon is being kind and letting you stay here for two weeks, why cant' you be nicer?!'_

_"Is it really so wrong for a host to get to know his guest?"_

_" . . . no, I  . . . I guess not. Just . . . stop being really creepy about it."_

_"Then please, by all means 'share' with me."_

_Link shifted uncomfortably, grasping his hands roughly from nerves. He was sure he'd left red marks on himself. In a tiny voice he whispered, "What . . . what would you like to know?"_

_"Well for starters, how about "why are you always so reckless?" The demon looked quite amused._

_"I-uh . . . actually don't have an answer to that. Maybe it's because I slept through all of my classes as Skyloft's academy, I can't really learn proper swordsmanship like that, can I?" He chuckled to himself, even if his statement was quite embarrassing._

_"So you're a sleepyhead?"_

_"That's what Zelda always called me for all of our childhood, but it wasn't until after I lost my parents that she started doing it. I think it was supposed to be a way to take my mind off of their deaths; I still don't really know anything about that event."_

_'That got dark fast,' the demon lord said to no one in particular under his breath._

He snapped back into reality when he stepped on a particularly large twig under his boot. 

Link couldn't have gotten too far.

He was always coughing and vomiting as though his tiny body held an endless pit instead of a stomach. He couldn't have left too long ago either, Ghirahim had woken up just a few hours before dawn to check on him. 

 If he didn't find that trouble maker soon, then there were going to be problems. Not only for the boy's health, unfortunately Ghirahim was starting to get a little too close to the kid. 

Several minutes later, any and all anger Ghirahim felt soon left his body. 

The feeling was soon replaced with oure anguish and guilt as he finally found the boy he now held so dear.

The sound of somewhat dry heaving had caught his attention. He turned with a snap of his head to the left and found Link. 

"Dammit, look what you've gotten yourself into now! I've no doubt  _this_ is your worst decision yet." He scolded, kneeling beside the teen to offer some help. He placed his right hand on his back and started drawing little shapes into his back for comfort but soon stopped when he saw the ground. " . . . Link?"

" . . .K . . .kill me. Pl-ugh . . .please." Link pleaded, practically sobbing. He released another bouquet of soaked flowers onto the ground. 

He couldn't believe what he was hearing. The demon refused to kill him himself. He jad spent so much time caring and .  . . and falling for him, there was no way he was going to kill him. "N-nonsense, Link. You've been through worse, you can make it through this too."

"It-it hurts, Ghira . . ." Link said leaning into his knees as he held his stomach. What Ghirahim did not see before was the wounds covering Link's abdomen. 

He removed his hand from Link's back before speaking. He couldn't tell what blood was from him bleeding out or what was from the cursed flower. "Did you do this to yourself, Link?"

The Skychild nodded once. "End it. I want . . . this to end."

So his wounds were from a futile attempt to end his pathetic life. 

Ghirahim did summon his rapier minutes later. He didn't know if he had the guts to do this though. Sure, he had killed many and not just killing. He had been the one to subject them to torture at times, and he was also one to make it as painful for the victim as possible. But this . . . this was different. Those people had been someone he hadn't loved or gotten to know. Link . . .

He . . . he loved the damn child. 

And so he closed his eyes, readied the blade, and in one quick jab impaled the one he had slowly fallen for over the last eleven days. 

"I'm so . . ry." Ghirahim whispered, voice cracking as a tear finally made its way down his face. He didn't know if he was apologizing for the fact of him being to stubborn to accept something or if he was sorry that he couldn't do more to help. But there was also the possibility that it was for letting things get this bad. 

He fell to his knees and cradled Link's body to his chest. He didn't care that he just smeared his white attire with blood. 

He ignored the footsteps approaching him and the weapon thrust against his neck. He only cared about Link . . .


	5. Epilogue

A ugly sob racked it's way through his body. He couldn't help it and  _goddess_ did he sound weak.

"Da-d-dammit, Link! I-no . . . It didn't have to be this way, we . .   we could've done  _something_ else!" 

Suddenly, Link, still weakened by literally everything possible, managed to reach up. 

He gently cupped his bloodied hand around Ghirahim's cheek and jaw and closed his eyes. Though he was unable to form coherent words at the moment, the action managed to succeed in what he wanted it to. Silencing the demon lord. He gave a small, subtle smile to the love of his life knowing that things never had a chance of working. He would've died eventually and he'd rather it be by his own or someone else's hand before he suffered the whole time. This last suicide attempt had succeeded, there would be no more suffering for him in life after this. The only suffering he would endure after death was waiting. Waiting for the day Ghirahim might join him in afterlife. 

But . . . before he went there was something that he had to let Ghirahim know. 

His attempt to speak was futile at most and the only thing he could manage was a pained wheeze. However in the end, he managed to speak the last words he wanted to say. 

"You. I . . . I love you. I don't even know why or even how this came to be but I only know one thing. It was never meant to be and. . . and I'm completely alright with you not loving me back. When I left, I hoped to spare you the pain of seeing me like this. It hurts and I didn't want you to feel the same. But, you. It was you. You're the only one the make me feel like this, and for once . . . I'm glad that you've left me breathless." 

The light in Link's eyes faded as Ghirahim gave a last kiss on the boy's forehead.

"I'm sorry." Ghirahim whispered and sadly that was the most he could say. He was too pathetic to even bring himself to say three words. ' _I love you.'_ He loved the boy, he really did. But he just couldn't bring himself to say those three words and they would be like poison in his mouth. 

He was dead. The boy he loved was dead. At least he did not pass with too much pain. 

Ghirahim picked up the lifeless body and started walking until he was rudely stopped by the sword thrust into his face and pressed into his neck.

 "Put the hero down. I will not allow you to hurt him anymore."

Ghirahim did not follow the order and stepped back to stsrt walking around the Sheikah. 

"Are you deaf, demon scum?! I asked you to put the hero down!" Impa yelled turning to face the demon once again. 

"Are you blind, sheikah dog? I am trying to mourn."

"You? Mourn? As if a demon could even do such a thing. You're incapable of friendship and love. All you guys are is sadistic freaks that care for themselves and only themselves."

"Then what would you call the two weeks I had let the hero stay at my humble abode?"

"Merely personal gain!"

Soon someone else joined in. "Impa! Ghirahim! That is enough! If you are going to fight, do it somewhere other than over the hero's body. I don't want to here you guys fighting, he wouldn't have wanted it."

Zelda sat down on her knees and used the back of her hand to move the Link's bangs out of his face. She pressed a gentle kiss to the forehead below her and mumbled a prayer of some sort before stating 'I'm sorry.'

She turned on her heel and grabbed a flower and rested it on the hero's chest before folding his hands around it carefully. Ghirahim ignored the fact that they were enemies and joined her with adding flowers. Right now they were on common ground and had a common goal in mind. Honoring the hero and his sacrifice. The demon lord snapped his fingers and a beautiful flower arrangement appeared around Link. 

Impa continued to glare at the demon during the whole mourning process. Several hours later. Ghirahim was the only one that remained. Fi wasn't even there anymore. Zelda had taken anything that would be useful for the next hero and he was dimoly left with the one he had fallen in love with. 

Ghirahim swore something on that day and he intended to keep it no matter the circumstances. He would find the hero in his next life and protect him no matter the cost.

Even if it killed him in the process.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I already have my plan for the next story. It is going to be another GhiraLink story, but it something that I haven't seen before. I plan on making an original version of Hylia's chosen Hero back when the war was still going on against Demise. I don't want to spoil anything, so i won't say anymore. 
> 
> The first chapter should come out in about three weeks. Possibly sooner if I finish it before then.


End file.
